Let's turn together to the book
of Mark, Mark chapter 7. I have, needless to say, had
my mind and heart continually rolling over the goodness of
God to us. When we began the conference
last week, Brother Bruce began the conference with that outstanding
message. Through the weekend, God's continually manifest goodness,
I kept thinking how good God has been to me and to you. And then yesterday, the day before
yesterday, as I finished up the chapter in Mark that Lindsay
taught this morning, writing the commentary, I came to this
last verse, and I want us to try to Consider God's goodness
again. Try to get the scene in your
mind. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus, has come from Decapolis to the
coast of Tyre and Sidon, where he graciously healed the Syrophoenician's
daughter, that one who was grievously vexed with the devil. And he
continued his acts of mercy here. healing one who was both deaf
and suffered from a speech impediment. And his fame was so great that
it couldn't be hid. Huge crowds gathered around.
You can imagine this was not some charlatan. This was the
real thing. The Lord Jesus was performing wonders before men,
fulfilling the Old Testament prophets. This one who cast out
devils with his word, who caused the lame to walk. The deaf to
hear, the blind to see, and the dumb to speak stood before them. And when they saw all that he
had done on this particular occasion, the crowd was overwhelmed, utterly
astonished. And they said, he hath done all
things well. He hath done all things well. Now, I tried to preach to you
on this subject in this passage three years ago. I hope God has
given me something for you tonight. Surely, of all people who ever
walked on God's earth, you and I have reason to stand before
him with astonishment. We have experienced His grace. We have tasted and seen that
the Lord is gracious. And our life experience confirms
this testimony from those who merely observed the outward acts
of wonder and grace performed on the bodies of men. We have
experienced these things in our souls. because he hath done all
things well. I'm 57 years old, and I've had
a few trials, a few heartaches, a little pain like you. Not much,
but a little. I've endured a little sorrow,
a little hurt, and a little bitterness in those 57 years. But I have to acknowledge to
my shame, I've caused more of those things than I've endured.
Yet God, my savior, had been so kind, so gracious, so utterly,
utterly merciful that looking back over all the experiences
of my life, I must acknowledge and confess He has done all things
well. I'm speaking the truth when I
tell you this. I'm not just preaching, I'm telling
you the truth. If I could go back and undo anything, if I can make any change, if
I could take away any pain, any heartache, any tears, I wouldn't
change a thing. Nothing. That which in the experience
of it appeared to be evil has proved to be good. You see, it
took all these things to bring me here tonight. Took all these
things, ordered wisely by our God in His good providence, to
bring us to Christ, to bring Christ to us and to teach us
that which he is teaching us of his grace. I'm sure you who
know my God will verify this is true of me. Everything. Every bitterness he's mixed with
our cup and every joy, every sorrow and grief and every delight,
everything he's taught us in his word and the way he's taught
us, every providential act of our God throughout our lives,
every deed of his mercy that we have seen and those we have
not seen. He has done all things well. I was sitting back here this
afternoon trying to get ready to preach and I was thinking
about The things that I know, just the things I know about
your lives, the things God's done to bring you here, to hear
the gospel of his grace and keep you here. Brother Bob Pontius
told me many times, most of you know this, how the railroad moved
him from one place to the other until he broke your legs and
kept you here. God in his great mercy. does all things exactly as He
will for you. Can you get that? Is that what
the psalmist said? The Lord performeth all things
for me. For me? I do a lot of things
for my wife and a lot of things for my daughter. Some things
for my son-in-law, some things for my grandchildren, some things
for you. Because I am a very limited fellow. And much as I love you and love
my family and would do much for you, I can't do so much for anyone. Not so our God. Larry Brown,
the Lord God performs all things just for you. Nobody else in
the world, just you. And he performs all things just
for me. And that he does for all his
children and all that he performs for me. He performs for you and
performs for us, the body of his redeemed together. Turn to
Psalm 119. Psalm 119. I'm not going to be
long tonight. I want us to look at this Psalm
in the context of this statement. He hath done all things well. Psalm 119 verse 65. The psalmist says, Thou hast
dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went
astray. But now have I kept thy word. Thou art good and doest good. Teach me thy statutes. Thou hast dealt with me." Imagine
that. Imagine that. What an awesome
thought. All the days of my life, God
has dealt with me. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about us. He's with us, dealing with us,
individually, personally. Thou hast dealt with me. But
now watch this. The psalmist says, Thou hast
dealt well with me. Truly, thou hast dealt well with
thy servant. The fact is, he has dealt so
well with me that these words don't begin to start telling
how well he has dealt with my soul. This little word, well,
I've told you before, one of those words that we kind of read
and, well, I understand that. It means he's done good to me.
The word is a magnificent little word. This is what it means. It could be translated any of
these ways and perhaps would best be translated using all
of these expressions. Thou hast dealt. most favorably,
most kindly, most graciously, most lovingly, most pleasurably,
most sweetly, most prosperously, most finely, most joyfully, most
merrily with me. Thou hast dealt well with me. Particularly, thou hast dealt
well with me, thy servant. A few weeks ago, some of us were
just fixing to walk out here. And Brother Merle, Brother Bob
Pontzer were standing there. We'd just gotten some letters
from folks who've heard the gospel through the internet radio program
and some other things that happened. And Brother Merle Hart made the
comment to me. He said, I came out here back
when we was trying to get this hole dug to put this building
up. And Brother Bob was out here working. He said, I just stopped
by. Charlotte and I were going to auction one night. And Bob
was out here working. He said, Bob said to him, he
said, we've got to get this building built to get this word out. Oh, how well he has dealt with
this assembly. of his servants. How well he
has dealt with this man whom he has made to be his servant. You see your calling, brethren?
Hath it not many wise, not many noble are called, not many mighty? But God has chosen such things
as we are, foolish, insignificant, nobodies. and he's put in us
the treasure of the gospel. Trusted to our hands the treasure
of the gospel of his grace that we may carry this gospel to this
generation by the will of God and for the glory of God. Thou
hast dealt well with thy servant according to thy word. according to his word of covenant
grace in divine predestination, so he has dealt with us. He spoke of doing us good. He speaks in that covenant of
making a covenant with all the beasts of the field on our behalf.
He gives His angels charge to keep us so that no harm befall
us. He says that a thousand will
fall at your right hand and ten thousand at your left and nothing
gonna happen to you. No evil shall befall you. He's
made all the universe to be in league to do us good according
to His covenant. He's come in the fullness of
time and accomplished redemption for us, called us by His grace,
forgiven us of our sins. And not only has He done so,
but He has dealt well with us according to His word of promise
written in this book. I have so often, so often read the book
and suddenly run across something that I'd missed before. Well,
look at that. Look at that promise. Look what
God has said He would do. Now look what He's done. Look
what he's done. The young pastor was visiting
an old lady in his congregation. They started to leave, and he
picked up the Bible. She had laying on the coffee
table and was looking for a passage to read, had prayer with her.
And he kept thumbing through the leaves of the Bible. He would
see just every little bit. These two letters, T-P, T-P,
T-P. Curiosity got the best of me
said he's a sister. What's this mean? She said what
well right here beside this verse daddy this verse over here on
this You got TP She said well pastor that means tried and proved
He has dealt well with me according to his word oh How faithful how
faithful how faithful he has proved himself? And he has dealt well with me
in all the wonders of his grace. Let me remind you one more time. Larry just read to us, thou hast
loved them as thou hast loved me. Thou lovest me from the foundation
of the world. The Lord God Almighty Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit loved us with an everlasting love, loved
us just because he would. We use that word love so casually,
and it's good to speak the word often, speak it to folks you
love and genuinely love, but still we use it so casually.
I think we fail to see many times what we are saying. When we declare
to someone, I love you. If I love Bob Duff, I'm committed
to him. I'm committed to him. I love
that lady. I love her. I'm not just emotionally
attached to her. I love her. My life is committed
to her. Now hear me. God Almighty says,
I have loved you. I have loved you. He has committed
all his infinite being to you. Consecrated all his infinite
goodness to you from old eternity. Or what else could we expect
to follow except what follows that Jeremiah 31 3. He said I
have loved thee with everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness have I drawn thee. That's just what you'd expect
if he loved you with everlasting love. Because of his infinite
love for us, he chose us as the objects of his grace in Christ. I reckon there's no sweeter doctrine
in all this book than the wondrous, glorious, blessed doctrine of
God's election. The Lord has chosen you. He's chosen you. Chosen you to
salvation through sanctification and belief of the truth. Why
should he choose me? Because he would. That's all. Cause he would. He says, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. And then in the fullness of time,
the Lord Jesus Christ stepped into this world in time. He came
in human flesh. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. God came into his own creation
in our nature because it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren. Hebrews 2 tells us when he came
here in human flesh he passed by the angels. He took not hold
on the angels that fell. The angels that fell he left
in chains of darkness into the judgment of the great day. But
he took on him the seed of Abraham. Not the seed of Adam, the seed
of Abraham. He took hold of Abraham's chosen
seed, of his covenant people, and it behooved him to be made
like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in all things for his brethren. He came here to
assume our nature for these purposes. It was man who had fallen and
man must suffer. It was man who had broken God's
law and man must maintain God's law. It was a man who had rebelled
against God and a man must honor God. But it must be a man of
infinite worth and infinite value. And in steps God. the infinite
son of God into human flesh. The theologians have tried for
centuries to explain to us the union of God and man in one person. They call it a hypostatic union.
Does that help you any? What does it mean? He's altogether
God as though he were not man and he's altogether man as though
he were not God. Well, that helps a little. We've
got to be careful to distinguish between the Godhood of Christ
and the manhood of Christ. Would somebody please tell me
why? He's all God and all man forever! Because all God and
all man is what it took to redeem me. All of God and all of man
is what it took to bring in infinite righteousness for his people.
All of God and all of man is what it took for him to suffer
all the horrid wrath of God to the full satisfaction of justice
that God might be just and justifier of the ungodly. And now this
one who has died sits yonder upon the throne. All God and all man that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God and yet touched with the feeling of our infirmities. If there's anything in this world
that ought to inspire our hearts to come to the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need, it is this. He who is God on the throne,
our Savior, is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, our
weaknesses, our failures, our sicknesses, our needs, our pains. There is no pain known to humanity
that he's not experienced. Oh, brother Dodd, nobody knows
what I'm feeling. He does. Nobody knows the weakness
of my soul. He does. Nobody knows the pain
of my heart. He does. Nobody knows the fever
in my body. He does. He does. The Son of
God even knows what it is to be seen, to be shrouded and covered in
darkness, and to have his Father frown upon him and turn his back
on him. He knows. In order to redeem
us, we hear him cry in the garden as he anticipates being made
sin for us. My God, oh my God, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. And as he anticipates that horror,
a being made sin for us, a being made that which he alone understands
and that which he hates with all his being. He breaks out
into a sweat of blood and cries, nevertheless, not my will, thy
will be done. And he sets his face again like
a flint to go up to Mount Calvary. and takes all our iniquities
that we drink like water. Man drinks iniquity like a thirsty
man drinks water, Job said, didn't he? Watch what the Son of God
did. Until he took into his being
all Oh, unfathomable mercy. He who knew no sin willingly
assumed our sin and was made sin for us that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. And when he was made sin for
us, God turned his back on his son.
And he cried, my God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me? And at last, when he with one
tremendous draft of love had drank damnation dry, he cried,
it is finished. And we were redeemed. And our
Lord Jesus, Jehovah's righteous servant, ascended into heaven
And He rules over all flesh now to give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given Him. And at the appointed time of
His love, He crossed our paths with the gospel of His grace.
You remember John 4, He must needs go through Samaria. Why? That's the long route to where
He was going. Why must he go through Samaria? There were shorter
ways to go, easier roads to go. Why there? Because there was
a woman of Samaria, a disreputable old gal. She had
had five husbands and she was shacked up with a fellow even
then who wasn't her husband. A woman of Samaria for whom the
time of love had come. who now must be called, and she's
going out to draw water at Jacob's well. And the Lord Jesus comes
and meets her to give her water from his very being, water of
life bubbling up in her soul forever. That's a good picture
of God's providence. I was born June 10, 1950, Bladen
County, North Carolina. Born at home, if you call it
home, it was a sharecropper's shack. Mother and dad were living
there at the time. And they put on my birth certificate
my name being called Don Fortner, Donald Stewart Fortner. And I
don't have a clue why except for Fortner. It was common to
give you your daddy's name. It can be read one of two ways,
and neither of them fits me. A mighty ruler or a little brown
stranger. Stewart, nobody in the family
ever named Stewart. Don't have any idea why they
put that name on there. Well, I've got a good notion
why all three names are mine. Before the world was, God Almighty,
with the finger of grace inscribed beneath the Lamb of God this
name, Donald Stuart Fortin. And said he shall be mine and
I shall be his. And I was born in that sharecropper
shack in Bladen County, North Carolina. June 10th, 1950, precisely
then, precisely under those circumstances, to precisely that mom and precisely
that dad in precisely that environment. So that at the appointed time
of love, I would hear the word of his grace and hear it having
been prepared all my life to hear it. having been prepared by every
circumstance through my life, both what men would call good
and what they would call bad, to hear his word. And when the
time of love came, he called me by his grace. And now, oh, how graciously,
how marvelously, how wondrously he has kept me. Kept me. I read in one of the bulletins
just last night or earlier this morning, I think it was Milton
Howard's, I'll get it on the computer, told the story of a
young man, these two boys, father was climbing a hill and the older
boy The stronger of the two, he said, Daddy, let me hold your
hand. And they were climbing up, and by the time he said that,
the younger, weaker of the two, he said, Daddy, hold my hand. And the stronger boy, as he reached
to hold his daddy's hand, slipped and fell, greatly injured. The younger boy, who said, Daddy,
hold my hand, was held secure. Now, we hold him, yes. The righteous shall hold on his
way, yes. We persevere in faith and in
grace, yes. Because he took us in his hand
before the world was and he won't let go until at last He presents
us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Truly, He hath done all things
well. Amen.